234 '^^^^ Irish Naturalist > [September, 1900. 



TWO NEW TEXT BOOKS. 



Text-book of Zoology treated from a Bioloi^ical vStandpoint. By Dr. 

 Otto Schmr i Iv. Translated from the German by Rudolf Rosenstock, 

 M.A. Edited by J. T. Cunningham, M.A. Part i. Mammals. With 

 numerous illustrations. London : A. and C. Black, 1900. Pp. viii. 

 and 13S. Price 3^-. M. 

 The special feature of this useful volume is that it "treats animals 

 always as living organisms." To quote Mr. Cunningham's preface 

 "Zoology from this point of view attracts children almost without 

 exception, while for them the subject has but little interest from any 

 other point of view." Consequently the author's plan has been to take 

 one or more t^'pical mammals of each order and describe these in some 

 detail, laying particular stress on the relation between their structure 

 and their manner of life. The systematic part of the volume is unfor- 

 tunately disfigured by several errors, such as the inclusion of the 

 Chimpanzee and Orang in the same genus. 



The book is marked " for the use of schools and colleges." For purely 

 elementary work, we fanc}' that it will be more used by teachers than by 

 their pupils, as there are many hints, directions, and unanswered questions 

 which are clearly addressed to the former, while the diagnoses of the 

 phylum, class and order are among the facts of zoolog}' that have " but 

 little interest " for the latter. An intelligent teacher will find the book 

 full of invaluable hints, and we congratulate the class of boys or girls 

 who learn zoology from actual specimens on the lines here laid down. 



First Stage Botany as illustrated by Flowering Plants. 



For the Elementary vStage of the Science and Art Department. By 



Ai^FRED J. EavarT, D.Sc. Pp. viii. and 252. London : W. B. Clive, 



University Tutorial Press, is. 



During the past few j-ears several excellent introductory books on 



Modern Botany have appeared. Not the least useful of these is this, the 



latest, under review. The book is written by a botanist who has done 



work in vegetable physiology, and has also had experience in teaching. 



The first hundred pages are devoted to the structure and functions of 

 the stem, root, and leaves of a plant, directions being given for practical 

 work, and series of questions here, as in other parts of the book, set. 

 Accounts of flower, fruit, seed, and classification follow, the characters 

 of many natural orders being given and illustrated. The appendix on 

 physiology is very good as far as it goes— probably as far as one could 

 expect in an elementary book. The book is illustrated by 236 figures, 

 some of which are severely diagrammatic, but as the book is avowedly 

 prepared to meet the requirements of a certain examination this feature 

 in the illustrations is to be expected as clearness is a distinct advantage. 

 If the subject of elementary botany could be generally taught in Irish 

 schools on the lines laid down in Dr. Ewart's book there would be a 

 marked advance, with benefit to student and country. 



